


Grading Session

by bossxtweed



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Other, set mid-season 10 so missy is in the vault, she helps him cope with his blindness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27631297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bossxtweed/pseuds/bossxtweed
Summary: Frustrated with screen readers and reticent to ask Bill or Nardole for help, the Doctor asks Missy for help with grading.I feel like this one just sortaends,but I'm not sure what else to do with it.
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Twelfth Doctor/Missy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Grading Session

The screen reader was broken.

The Doctor had fished it out of some bin he'd found stashed away in the library and had turned it on using his sonic glasses, only the damned thing  _ wasn't working. _ Frustrated, he threw it down onto his desk.

Nardole was off on a fool’s errand, picking up crisps and a rare edition of a 1930’s comic, and besides, the Doctor could barely stand the man’s voice on a  _ good  _ day. Bill, too, was out of the picture. Not only was she unaware of his blindness, she was also off with friends, having fun with people her  _ own  _ age for once, and he was loath to disturb her.

That left only  _ one  _ option.

The Doctor sighed. 

Slowly, cautiously, he worked his way down the hall, outside, and below the university, to where the Vault stood with its imposing metal doors and even more imposing inhabitant. He leant forward and said, "Missy, I'm… I'm going to let you out. Just for a bit. Just…. don't try anything, alright?"

He swallowed hard, his hearts thudding in his ears as he waited.

Finally, her voice came in a whisper over the speaker: "alright."

The large metal doors of the vault swung open and the Doctor titled his head, half-expecting Missy to knock him down in an escape attempt, only--

“Missy?” he queried. “This--this  _ isn’t  _ a trick! I… I…”

She treaded lightly towards him, raised a hand to gently cup his cheek, and searched his face, thinking,  _ Doctor, are you alright? _

_ I’m  _ **_fine,_ ** _ Missy,  _ he returned, stepping back.  _ Could you--? _

She stepped back, turned, and tapped a few buttons on the keypad, shutting the vault doors with a creaking groan.

The Doctor turned and started down the corridor.

“Doctor,” Missy called, “ye want to go the  _ other  _ way!”

He blinked. “Oh. Right. Erm--”

“Follow my voice,” Missy said, starting down the right way. Then, “I take it we’re going to your office?”

He nodded. “I could use company while grading. Nardole doesn’t laugh at my jokes and I can’t stand to sit in silence, and--”

“Say  _ less,  _ Doctor. What shall I sing?”

“Sing?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed, bouncing onto the tips of her toes. “I don’t feel like talking--- _ oh!”  _ With a glint in her eye, she started to sing “Let it Go.”

Smiling fondly, the Doctor joined her.

A few minutes later, she pushed his office door open with a broad, sweeping gesture and sang, “here we  _ arrre!  _ Where’s the light?”

“Ah. Well.” He snapped his fingers and the curtains swung open.

“Ach, nae!” Missy shut her eyes and recoiled from the sudden influx of light. She fumbled a moment in the folds of her dress before pulling out a sleek purple case.  _ “Warn  _ a person next time, Doctor!”

“Sorry. I--forget, sometimes. It’s funny, how little time it took…”

She put her glasses on, let the thin frames tangle in her curls, and snapped the case shut before returning it to her pocket. “s’alrigh’, dear. I’ve my glasses on now--the metal ones with the tinted lenses.”

“Migraine day?”

“I’ve had worse,” she said, raising her shoulders in a shrug. “Today’s manageable.” She sank down on the sofa and kicked her feet onto the coffee table. 

A few moments passed in silence as the Doctor stood stock-still in the center of the room.

Missy broke the silence, saying, “you were going to work on grading?”

“Ah? Yes. Yes, I--I was. Grading,” he nodded. Stretching out a hand, he used it to guide himself to his desk, where he sat in front of a large monitor with papers scattered everywhere.

He put on a pair of headphones and set the device to read for him, only it read in a high-pitched, whining voice and language that he couldn’t  _ quite  _ place----latin. The damned thing was reading in  _ Latin! _

Throwing the headphones aside, he cursed in their native tongue.

Watching him carefully, Missy pursed her lips.

“Doctor…”

He stopped, turned towards her, and asked, “how do  _ you  _ do it, Missy? When we were kids and your pain blinded you, now that we’re older and it sometimes still does---”

“I asked for help, remember? You and Ushas would help me when I couldn’t see, and I learned to adapt.”

The Doctor frowned. “I don’t--I don’t want to be  _ pitied,  _ Missy, and I  _ don’t  _ want people to  **_know…”_ **

“They  _ won’t have to,  _ dear. I--I could help you grade? Read the papers aloud, perhaps?”

He tilted his head to one side, considering. “I’d--like that, Missy.”

“I’ll even do funny voices!” she exclaimed, bouncing to her feet.

"Do the  _ General's _ voice--but as hard and mocking as you can! Then…. then, go for  _ Borusa!" _

She laughed. "Alright. Just din _ nae _ ask me to do  _ Rassilon's  _ voice--makes me sick just thinking about it."

The Doctor reached out, grappled for a pile of papers, and hesitantly asked, "Are these the ones on black holes?"

"Hm?" Missy stood, swayed over to him, and said, "it  _ looks _ like it, yes. 'We live in the ashes…' now  _ that  _ one sounds interesting!"

She leaned over and snatched a pen from his desk, snapped the cap off with her teeth, and took the stack of papers from him before settling back down on the sofa.

"Are you ready?" she asked. "Or shall I make  _ popcorn _ first?"

"Popcorn sounds nice," he replied with a smile. " _ And _ slushies? We could make an afternoon of it!"

_ "Ginger  _ slushies… I'll be  _ right  _ back, Doctor!" Missy bounced to her feet once more and disappeared into the Doctor's TARDIS, singing as she went.

Left alone with his thoughts, the Doctor focused on the smell of the room: Bill had bought him bubblegum and sunflower scented candles, and the sunflower one was currently burning, only something in the room smelled  _ rotten. _ Nardole must have  _ forgotten  _ to take the trash out.

_ I’ll dock his pay,  _ he thought.  _ Leaving the trash-- _

_ I’ve brought the drinks and snacks!  _ Missy’s voice cut into his thoughts. She set a tray laden with a bowl of popcorn and two large, insulated glasses down on the coffee table before asking, “is something the matter?”

“Nardole was supposed to take the trash out, only he  _ didn’t--- _ but I’ll tell him off for it later.”

“Alright, love. The popcorn and your drink are right in front of you.”

He nodded, leaned forward, and scooped up a handful of popcorn. “Start at the bottom and work your way to the top---unless you’d rather just read them off willy-nilly, which would be okay, too.”

She set the stack aside, picked up one of the essays, and began to read, the musical lilt of her voice ringing through the room.

Softly, the Doctor smiled.


End file.
